One of the biggest plots that will come to an end soon is Ashley Thomas’ death and it’s going to be a tearjerker.

“Ashley’s exit story is not that far off – it’s tragic to say it but he will soon no longer be with us,” Iain explained at a press event recently.

“I’ve just signed off on the final version on the episode in which he dies and it is unbelievably beautiful. It’s oddly joyous – it’s a celebrating of the character.

“We didn’t want to do a story where he just absconded from a care home and was discovered dead from hypothermia or something, it would be too bleak. It’s super warm and funny and almost festive and boisterous.

Emmerdale’s Ashley Thomas will say farewell to the show in the coming months

“It’s just beautiful and I couldn’t be more proud of the script – which is in very capable hands with our cast and crew.”

While the former vicar’s death will be devastating, his funeral will be something special and an homage to the character.

“What we’ve got for the funeral is something that is every bit as quirky and special as the Ashley episode that we did. It’s as experimental as that but in a different way – that will be really special and will probably be talked about for quite some time to come.

“I hope people are as surprised as I was when I read it. It’s pretty special I have to say.”

The pair will try to hide their relationship to make it easier for Aaron to survive on the inside

As Ashley’s story comes to an end, Aaron Dingle’s prison hell will be beginning, but it won’t be all bad as the soap will show the realities of life in prison for the character.

“It will be like a day in the life of Aaron Dingle as a convict. I’ve yet to see it but the scripts are really fantastic.

“It’s as much as a day in the life of that family too – we thought we’d do something because it’s quite topical as well in that there’s a lot of news issues around prison and prison life and the kind of challenges people face in prison so we just thought it was a really good opportunity to explore some of that using a really well-liked group of characters.

“That’s coming up in the not too distant future. The story for a while will feature Aaron in jail heavily. We just thought we shouldn’t shy away from what it’s like. Obviously Aaron’s experiences with jail are numerous and complicated and we’ll be touching upon the fact that Gordon took his own life in jail and that has its own, hopefully quite surprising effect, on how Aaron is able to cope in there.”

There could also be a reckoning on the cards for murderous deranged woman Emma Barton.

“The soap gods are currently adjudicating on whether Emma will get her comeuppance and they haven’t made their ruling yet. Fundamentally, no bad deed goes entirely unpunished but in terms of what form that punishment takes is very much still to be decided.

“I love the character and I love Gillian so I’m in absolutely no rush to judgement on it.”

He added: “Being responsible for someone’s death, especially when it wasn’t a kind of cold-blooded murder, doesn’t necessarily mean you have to end up behind bars.

“Obviously there’s an appetite for viewers when something bad is done, you can’t ignore that but equally comeuppance can come in many forms so it’s just a case of deciding what form that might take and when it might happen.”

But in a nicer turn of events love is coming to the village in a surprising triangle.

“There’s a big love triangle that kicks off over the summer and it crash lands out of the blue and it’s two people that you wouldn’t have necessarily thought would embark on such a wild, crazy liaison.

“It’s sexy, destructive and also kind of funny – it’s a man and two women and the bloke haplessly gets stuck between two people that he can’t choose between which will be good fun.”

Another shock relationship will send ripples through the village as two totally different characters get together.

“Chalk and cheese doesn’t even cover it. If you thought about the most ying and yang characters in the village, it would be them.

“It’s unbelievably sexy and dangerous and insane, I love it. The early phases of that are just coming into the scripts now so I’m only really just dipping my toe into the water with that at the moment. Pick the two characters who are least likely to end up in bed together, it’s a fun game to play at home!”

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And Moira Barton and Cain Dingle will be thrust back together as their passions bubble over.

“We’re building to a massive story for Cain, where he’ll find himself being tempted by probably the person you’d least expect in the whole village.

“Fundamentally there’ll be a massive event for him and Moira to deal with later in the year that could either be the thing that brings them back together or could be the thing that ruins their relationship forever.”